Sibelius’ Karelia Suite was one of his first great successes, using music written for a patriotic pageant in a region of Finland close to the Russian border. Glazunov’s passionately lyrical and undeservedly overlooked Violin Concerto dates from 1904, a period when the composer was at the height of his creative powers. Sibelius’ second symphony was written largely in Italy and inhabits a very different musical world from the northern darkness of his first. The sense of renewal and exploration continues through its four movements before building inexorably to the final thrilling brass theme.